


Overheard

by notparticularly



Category: Septimus Heap - Angie Sage
Genre: Gen, heapster prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-15
Updated: 2014-01-15
Packaged: 2018-01-08 20:02:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1136782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notparticularly/pseuds/notparticularly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She wasn't supposed to have been up there, really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Overheard

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the prompt "someone hears something they shouldn't" from [this](http://heapster-prompts.tumblr.com/) awesome blog
> 
> Also I kinda took the idea that the books were set in the future and fucking rolled with it haha

She wasn't supposed to have been up there, really.

She hadn't broken in. Well, not exactly. The door was open, and nobody was around the top floors this late in the evening. She'd wanted a closer look at some of the books in the library within the pyramid atop the Wizard tower for years, and with no hope of becoming ExtraOrdinary Apprentice now that Silas Heap had the job, there was no chance of a peek unless she sneaked in.

But she was supposed to have been gone long before the ExtraOrdinary Wizard and his apprentice got back, and honestly they couldn't blame her for getting caught up in looking at old maps of the Castle and - was that a preserved copy of Sherlock Holmes? She had known Alther kept books from  **before** in his library, but this copy was almost pristine, and largely untouched by the paper-eating beetles who roamed free in this corner of the pyramid.

Now, six stories and two hours later, Marcia was sitting in a nest made from her brown cloak and ensconced entirely illicitly in a forgotten corner of the library. That, she later told several excited apprentices, was how she managed to overhear the biggest news to hit the Wizard Tower in years completely by accident.

Silas Heap was somewhat older than Marcia by a good few years, but he was kind to the younger apprentices and she had always found him agreeable, if not entirely likeable. It took a while, at first, for the voices of Silas heap and the ExtraOrdinary Wizard himself to filter through, but when they did Marcia  **extinguished**  the candle she had been reading by and dived behind one of the shelves.

She was at a loss - if she revealed herself now, would they think she had been eavesdropping? Would she receive a reprimand? Or worse, would her parents be informed of her truancy? Unthinkable! Marcia had the best record of all the Wizard apprentices of her age, and she wasn't going to let anything endanger that.

Suddenly the murmurs moved within earshot, and Marcia found herself privy to a conversation she was pretty sure the neighbourhood gossips would kill to hear.

"Can I not change your mind, Silas?" Alther was saying. Marcia held her breath and moved deeper into the shadows, praying that she would not be discovered.

She heard Silas sigh audibly. "I'm sorry to say it Alther, but I've found my path. And this isn't it."

The ExtraOrdinary Wizard's voice was tired, and sad. "You're almost a man now Silas, so of course you are free to decide as you please. I had hoped to change your mind, but I see you won't be swayed."

"I can stick it out to the end of the month, if that's easiest? You'll need time to find a new apprentice anyway, and Sarah is still working in the forest."

"Yes, perhaps it would be best," Alther replied, his voice holding a stern note that had not been there before. Marcia had never seen the Extraordinary Wizard truly angry, and his tone was colder than she had heard it in a while. She was not intimidated easily, but Alther Mella was, by all accounts, one of the most formidable ExtraOrdinary Wizards in years. A few seconds later she heard booted feet again descending the ladder to the top floor of the Wizard Tower, and she breathed a small sigh of relief. Now, all that remained was one question:

How was she going to get out of the library without Alther knowing she'd heard everything?


End file.
